Tag: Cole Miller

Last weekend’s Fight Night: Henderson vs. Thatch was something of a mixed bag. On one hand, it featured a main event that was both thrilling from start to finish and a solid reminder that Ben Henderson is a badass, toothpicking-chewing sumbitch in any weight class. On the other, it featured more than its share of underwhelming, glacially-paced sparring matches that stretched its six fight main card to the brink of watchability. (We’re looking at you, Dan Kelly vs. Patrick Walsh. Your fight was bad and you should feel bad.)

Frontrunners for “Worst Fight of the Year” aside, Fight Night 60 also saw Max Holloway tie Conor McGregor‘s featherweight win streak and Tim Elliott hit a Samoan Drop on Zach Makovsky (en route to a unanimous decision loss). So join us after the jump to check out all the Fight Night 60 highlights that the UFC will allow us to have, and what the hell, we’ll even throw some Bellator 133 highlights in there for ya.

Featuring a main event matchup that was only the UFC’s fourth last resort (!!), UFC Fight Night 60 goes down this Saturday in Broomfield, Colorado. It’s a card that’s been getting a lot of heat from hyperbolic MMA fans for being “underwhelming” and “a beacon of the UFC’s plunge toward mediocrity,” but to be honest, it’s not all that bad of a card. So join me after the jump as I break down all six (!) main card fights from top to bottom…

Now, Brandao is in a main event against The King of Dublin — which kind of seems undeserved, but considering that McGregor and Brandao have had their eyes on each other since last year, it could still be an entertaining scrap. The current fight-lineup for UFC Fight Night 46: McGregor vs. Brandao is…

MMA is the ultimate “nice guys finish last” sport. It’s called prize fighting for a reason, and “I respect him; he’s a great opponent” doesn’t sell.

This is no secret. Just look at how Chael Sonnen—a perennial mid-carder who nobody knew or cared about—resurrected his career with carefully executed, bombastic trash talk.

Why am I telling you this if it’s common sense? Because it’s only common sense to people who appreciate MMA for what it is—real-life pro wrestling. Unfortunately, most hardcore MMA fans (and some media members) refuse to see it this way. They either believe in a non-existent code of honor, or an even less corporeal competitive architecture. “It’s a sport,” they maintain. “It should be only about competition. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see the best fighters go at it, even if they have less charisma than a light bulb?” The answer to that question: Most of the country.

There’s a sport with no flash, no glitz, and none of the other maligned “entertainment” trappings of the UFC and the WWE. It’s called amateur wrestling, and nobody watches it. MMA turning into amateur wrestling hurts the fighters. If there’s no viewers, there’s no money. It’s crazy that people still need to be reminded of this, but selling the fight is equally as important as fighting the fight. To quote The Simpsons, “Every good scientist is half B.F. Skinner and half P.T. Barnum.”

“[Miller] opened his mouth, he was under the influence of post-fight adrenaline. It has the same effect as alcohol. It makes you brave. He spoke with bravery, but guess what happened? It wore off. Now he’s faced with the reality that he’s going to face me July 19th. Me coming back from this injury is a man possessed. I’m going go in there and I’m going to break him in the very first exchange…

“Cole Miller is a turd the UFC hasn’t flushed yet,” said Cerrone. “I think the UFC is totally against me going to 145 [pounds]. I couldn’t drink delicious, full-bodied Budweisers, so that would be a lifestyle change. I don’t know if I’m committed to that. Cole Miller, win some fights and then come see me. You’re at the ass-end of a long line of people. We’ll see.”

That right there is a solid early front-runner for Press Conference Diss of the Year. But look, nobody really cares about two guys from different weight classes squabbling with each other over some old, petty bullshit. What’s important is Cerrone’s future in the lightweight division now that he has a win streak going again. And as it turns out, Donald has some ambitious plans for 2014…

About midway through the Fight Night 35 main card, I headed to a local bar with some friends for trivia night, my intention being to halfheartedly watch the card to completion whilst shoveling down pull pork nachos and trying to figure out who the 14th President of the United States was without using the smartphone I don’t even have.

Amidst a crowd of heavily inebriated Bostonians, I attempted to get the bartender to change one of the 15 plasma screen televisions surrounding me to FOX Sports 1. She changed it to FOX, at the exact moment American Idol was starting, which drew some strange reactions from the bar patrons that in turn forced me to hang my head in shame until she made it back around. When she finally did, and after a brief back and forth about what FS1 exactly was, she informed me that “we don’t play fights here” before switching to CNN.

This intolerance left me cold inside, colder than any amount of nachos could ever hope to warm. But I tried, dammit. I really tried…

What does any of this have to do with the Fight Night 35 salaries? Nothing, I guess. I just thought it would interest you to know that MMA bias is still alive and rampant, even in some of the sport’s most gung-ho cities. Join us after the jump to see the saddening result of this intolerance.

“I’m looking at anyone in the middleweight division to get myself back into (title) position,” Rockhold said. “I already let it be known Bisping’s out there. A lot of people are calling him out, but Bisping went on national TV and told everybody he was the unofficial Strikeforce champion. He calls it a joke and this and that, but I say he’s got bad taste and he needs to pay for it.”

(Luke and Costa face off in front of the wax replica of Dana White that the UFC has been sending to non-essential events. No offense, guys. At least you’re not on Fight Pass. / Photo via Getty)

Look, what can we tell you about UFC Fight Night 35 that we haven’t already expressed via dog GIFs? Luke Rockhold and Costa Philippou are a pair of highly-regarded middleweights who are trying to avoid a two-fight losing streak. Supporting their main event is a worthwhile list of TUF vets (Brad Tavares, TJ Dillashaw, Cole Miller, Sam Sicilia), a former flyweight title challenger (John Moraga), and a fast-rising knockout artist named Yoel Romero. It’s on cable TV, and early enough to watch while you’re eating your salisbury steak. Take it or leave it.

Handling our liveblog of the “Rockhold vs. Philippou” FOX Sports 1 main card is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and if you’re watching along with us, join the conversation in the comments section.